Religion is keeping Indians apart, especially in the north of the country: Pew survey
- The study found Hindus see their religious and national identities as closely intertwined, while a third of respondents don’t want a Muslim neighbour
- Analysts say Indians are traditionally conservative, but more so after Narendra Modi’s BJP took power in 2014, leading to increased religious polarisation
When Hafiza Sheikh was growing up in Mumbai, she celebrated Holi and Diwali with her Hindu neighbours and shared her Eid delicacies with them on the Muslim religious holiday.
But now her daughter never takes non-vegetarian food to her elite school outside New Delhi for fear of being singled out by her Hindu classmates, and the 12-year-old does not let her use typical Muslim salutations like “khuda hafeez” or “salaam” on the school premises either.
The religious intolerance that existed in subtle ways for years in India has come to the fore with legitimacy from the government
The survey, covering 30,000 Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, was conducted in late 2019 and early 2020 and found that Hindus tend to see their religious identity and Indian national identity as closely intertwined. Nearly two-thirds of Hindus said it is “very important” to be Hindu to be “truly” Indian.
The researchers said religion is “prominent” in the lives of Indians regardless of their socioeconomic status, and that the BJP is often described as promoting a “Hindu nationalist ideology”.
India’s 2011 census revealed that Hindus make up 79.8 per cent of the population, or 966.2 million people, while 14.23 per cent, or 172.2 million are Muslim. Christians comprise 2.3 per cent of the population with Sikhs at 1.72 per cent, Buddhists at 0.7 per cent and Jains at 0.37 per cent.